A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 I think my tree is sick...

Hi all,
I recently became the owner of a huge beautiful rubber tree. It was doing great for a while, but recently a LOT of leaves have been falling off, and the new ones are sort of light-green and sickly looking (even though there are quite a few of them). Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do to help it out? It's currently in a well-lit room, albeit not right in front of the window.
Thanks!
Enara

hi enara! sounds like your rubber tree is suffering from a couple of things. one of which is the light change (it is nearly impossible to match the original grower's conditions in our home) it is not uncommon for plants to loose leaves when the light change is drastic. one way you can help this is by replacing any incandesant bulbs with the compact florescents.

another thing that is probably happening is that the watering is off. either too much or (less likely) not enough. your plant should be dry to your first knuckle when you stick it in the soil before you water it, then water thoroughly.

also, check out the garden helper's pages on rubber tree care